Stropper.



C. M. MOORE.

S'IROPPER.

APPLICATION FILED SEPTJ, 1912.

1,075,665. Patented Oct. 14, 1913. 2y I v I P 5 FIBL6 I 1 "I T N ESSESCLARENCE M. MOORE, OF MI'ITINEAGUE, MASSACHUSETTS.

STROPPEB.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 14,1913.

Application filed September 7, 1912. Serial No. 719,046.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CLARENCE M. Mooim, a citizen of the United States,residing at Mittineague, in the county of Hampden and State ofMassachusetts, have invented a new and useful Stropper, of which thefollowing is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in mechanical devices for stroppingsafety-razor blades, and consists in general of a pair of rotarystroppingmembers arranged for longitudinal reciprocation, and means tosupport a blade in stropping position and to oscillate the same so as tocarry said blade from one stropping member to the other, together withsuitable actuating mechanism for both stropping and bladesupportingmeans, and such auxiliary parts and members as may be needed to completeand perfect the stropper, all as hereinafter set forth.

The object of my invention is to provide a comparatively simple, buthighly efiicient device or machine, actuated by a crank for easily,quickly, accurately and thoroughly stropping razor blades on both sides,which blades are adapted for various kinds or makes of safety razors.Another object is to provide the stropping devices with stroppingsurfaces which are incomplete circumferentially, so that a saving iseffected in the leather or other material which comprises such surfaces.

Other objects will appear in the course of the following description.

I attain these objects by the means illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings, in which- Figure 1 is a. top plan of a practical embodiment ofmy invention; Fig. 2, a lefthand end elevation of the stropper as itappears in the preceding view; Fig. 3, a vertical section taken on lines3-45, looking toward the right, in Fig. 1; Fig. 4, a vertical sectiontaken on lines 44, looking toward the right, in Fig. 1; Fig. 5, alongitudinal section through one of the rotary and reciprocatingstropping devices,such section being taken through the rear stroppingdevice as it stands in Fig. 1; Fig. (3, a similar section, but leavingthe sleeves in elevation and showing the revoluble members after theyhave made one-half of a revolution from the position which they occupyin the rear stroppiiigdevice in Fig. 1, or

showing such members as they appear in the forward stropping device insaid view; Fig. 7. an isometric view of a holder for the blade of a Gemsafety razor, and Fig. 8. an isometric view f a holder for the blade ofa Star safety razor.

The holder shown in the general views, or in Figs. 1,2 and 3, is for theblade of a lillette safety razor.

Similar figures refer to similar parts throughoutthe several views.

In the embodiment of the invention, as herein illustrated and described,a suitable frame is provided to support the various parts and members,and such frame coniprises a floor 1 and two end pieces 2 and 5. Said endpiece 2, which is at the left-hand end of the floor l, is low and hasrising from the front and rear ends thereof two arms or uprights 6.

()ii the inside of the end piece 5 near the top is a train of gearswhich comprises a driving gear 7, an intermediate gear 8, and two drivengears 9. The gear 7 is mounted loose on a stud 10 set in the end piece 5and provided on the end which is outside of said end piece with a crank11 by means of which the entire mechanism of the stropper is actuated.The intermediate gear 8 is mounted loose on a stud 12 which is also setin the end piece 5. The driven gears 9 are each mounted tight on a shaft13 which has one end journaled in the end piece 5 and the other endjournaled in one of the uprights 6 -or in a cap 14 that is rigidlyattached to such uprights. The arrows in Fig. 4 show the normal andproper directions of rotations of the several gears in the train justreferred to. The axes of the shafts are in the same horizontal plane.

The caps 14 are screwed into the uprights 6, and have screwed on totheir inner terminals sleeves 1515 which are mounted on the shafts 13and in which the latter are free to revolve. The sleeves 15 and the caps14 are screwed firmly against opposite-sides of the uprights 6 and inthis manner said sleeves and uprights are rigidly secured in place andheld against rotation. The righthand or inner end of each sleeve 15 iscut diagonally or beveled as shown at 16. A second sleeve 19 is mountedon each shaft 13 and is keyed to such shaft, as shown at 20. Theleft-hand or inner end of each sleeve 19 is cut diagonally or beveled,as shown at 21,

.the left-hand end members to correspond with and engage the beveledpart 16 of the sleeve 15 which is on the same shaft with said sleeve 19.It will be seen, therefore, that, since the sleeves 19 revolve with theshafts 13 they must be reciprocated on said shafts provided the beveledends 21 thereof be retained in contact with the beveled ends 10 of thesleeves 15. Such contact is maintained by means of springs 22 mounted onthe sleeves 15 between pins 23, set in said sleeves adjacent to theirinner ends, and of the stropping devices described below.

There are two of the above-mentioned stropping devices and eachconsists, in addition to the shafts and sleeves already described andwhich may be said to constitute parts of such devices, of asemi-cylindrical block 24;, a stropper proper 25, of leather or othersuitable material, placed over the convex surface of said block andhaving its longitudinal edges carried inward over theflat inner surfacesof said block, confining or fastening strips 26 for the inturned edgesof said stropper, such strips being secured to the block by means ofscrews 27 which pass through the stripsand stropper into the block, acover-plate 28 which closes what would otherwise be the exposed sidesand edges of said strips and the heads of said screws, and end caps29-29 between which the block and interior attached members are confinedand to which said blocks are rigidly fastened, being fastened in thepresent case by means of screws 30. The blocks 24 are cored or hollowedto accommodate the springs 22 and the pins 23, and the coverplates 28are also constructed for such aecommodation. It is the left-hand caps 29against which the corresponding ends of the springs 23 bear. Theright-hand caps 29 are integral with or rigidly attached to thecorresponding ends of the sleeves 19.

It is clearly to be seen, now, that when the gearsnre revolved by meansof the crank 11 in the directions of the arrows in Fig. 4, the stroppingdevices will be revolved, through the medium of the shafts 13, the keys20 and the sleeves 19, in the directions of the arrows shown in Fig. 2,and that at the same time said devices will be actuated on said shaftsfirst in one direction, as to the left, and then in the other direction,as to the right, owin t0 the fact that the' beveled ends 21 of saidsleeves ride on or bear against the beveled ends 16of the sleeves 15,the parts being under the influence of the springs 22. The presentarrangement is such that the two stropping devices move longitudinallysimultaneously but in opposite directions, andthat when one of suchdevices presents its stropper 25 entirely be- Iowa the horizontal planeof the axis of such devlce the other device presents its stropper 25entirely above the corresponding horizonbase capable of sliding intosaid tal plane or the horizontal plane of the last-mentioned device.Then again it will be observed that when one stropping device, the rearone in the present case, is at the left-hand end of its travel, thestropper thereon is entirely below the before-mentioned plane, and thatthen the other device, the front one, is at the right-hand end of itstravel with the stropper 25 thereon entirely above the horizontal planeof the axis of said last-mentioned device. One-half of a revolutionchanges the relative positions of the stropping devices so that theyoccupy the other extreme positions, or each occupies the position whichcorresponds to that previously occupied by the other.

Rigidly secured on the shafts 13 just inside of the gears 9 are two cams31 which are alike but arranged on said shaft so that one compensatesfor the movement imparted by the other, or, in other words, so that theaction of one is in exact accord with the action of the other and eitherimparts or permits the same amount of motion permitted or imparted byits companion. Mount-ed with its head between the cams 31 and designedto be oscillated by such cams is a rocker 32. The rocker 32 is mountedon a stud or screw 33 set in the end piece 5. A pin 34 projects from therocker 32 above the pivot 33 and a bent spring is mounted at the top onsaid pin. The twobranches of the spring 35 extend downwardly on oppositesides of a rod 36 which extends between the end pieces 2 and 5 in thecenter but near the floor 1, and the lower terminals of said spring arereceived between two lugs 37, as clearly shown in Fig. 4, which lugs areparts of a keeper 38 that is mounted on said rod. As the rocker 32 isoscillated by the cams 31 the spring 35 is also oscillated and impartsmovement to the keeper 38, through the medium of the lugs 37, rockingsaid keeper on the rod 36 and exerting a certain amount of yieldingforce thereon.

The keeper 38 comprises a channel member having converging longitudinalsides and being provided at the ends with downwardly extending arms 39and 40 which are mounted directly on the rod 36. The lugs 37 extend tothe right from the base of the arm 40.

The keeper 38 is designed and adapted to receive a blade holder whichhas a flaring keeper. In the first three views a blade holder is shownwhich comprises a flaring base 41 that fits the keeper 38, and two arms42 that rise from the ends of said base and have at their upperterminals heads 43 in which there are rectangular pockets to receive theends of two clamping strips 44 and 45 between which may be securely helda Gillette blade,

illustrated at 46. The Gillette blades each have pin-receiving openingstherein, consequently the clan'iping strip ll is provided with a pair ofpins 47 arranged to enter two of the openings in the blade i6, and theclamping strip has holes therein positioned to receive said pins afterthey have passed through said blade. The arms l2 are resilient and thusenable the clamping strips e l and -43 to have their ends inserted inthe heads 43 and to he removed therefrom.

To practice the blade 46 is placed between the clan'iping strips a4 and45, then said strips at one end are inserted in one of the heads 13, andlastly the strips at the other end are inserted in the. other head 13,the arms 42 being, sprung apart sutliciently to enable this to be. done.\Vhen it is desired to remove the blade 46 it is simply necessary tospring apart the anus 42, remove the clamping strips, separate suchstrips, and take away the bhide.

ln Fig. 7, I show a spring holder t for a (iQlll bladcetl, and in Fig,tl a similar holder 50 for a. Star blade 5L In each of these cases theholder has a base which tits the keeper 238 so that such holder can heslipped into said keeper and removed therefrom. at vill, as is the casewith the all of the holder for th? lillettc blade. The holders -18 and30 ditl'er only in respect to the actual clamping members for theblades, which members differ to the extent necessary to enable them tolirmly grasp the particularblade for which they are designed. In eithercase the resilient sides of the holder are forced apart and the base ofthe blade is introduced at one end or the other between theblade-gripping parts and forced into position. The removal of either theblade 49 or 5l is eli'ected by simply forcing said blade in eitherdirection out from between the clamping members therefor. The clampingmembers or jaws for the blade 49 are represented at and those for theblade 51 at 53. The jaws are integral with the sides of the holder 48and the 53 are integral with the sides of the holder 50.

Any one of the three holders herein shown and described may be used withthe keeper 38, as already observed, and such holder is introduced intosaid keeper the end which is adjacent to the space between the uprights6,01' the lett'hand end. and withdrawn from such end and between suchuprightsv When any holder is properly located in the keeper 31 saidholder supports the cutting edge or the upper edge of the blade which itcarries in the stropping field, which between the rotary andreciprocating stropping devices, and the keeper 38, when rocked on therod. M5 by means of the cum-actuated rocker and ll 3 spri lid blade tob,

with i other, so that both sides of said cutting edge are acted upon.The cams 31 are so formed that the parts operated thereby are caused todwell at each end of their travel long enough for the blade to receiveapproximately the full stroke of the stroppcr with which said blade isin contact, such stroke being both rotary and longitudinal or acombination of the two motions which are imparted to each of thestropping devices; and the operations of the parts are so timed that theblade is brought into contact with one stropper or the other just assoon as said strep-- per enters the stropping field, and remains in suchcontact until said stropper is about to leave such field, when saidblade is carried either forward or backward to meet the other stropperas it enters said field. The spring 35 causes the blade to beheldagainst the stropper with sufficient force to bring about thedesiredeflect and provides the blade with a lceen'edge.

The operation of the machine as a whole will be well unoerstood fromwhathas gone before, so that little need be said at, this place uponthat subject. It is obvious that the blade to be sharpened must first beplaced in the holder and the latter connected with the keeper. Then thecrank 11. is turned in the proper direction'and the strop ing devicesand the keeper set in motion and continued in motion as long as may bethought to be necessary for the complete sharpening of the blade. Duringthe sharpening or shopping process the stropping devices revolve inopposite directions and ciprocate in opposite directions and the bladeis carried back and forth into contact with said stro-pping device, allin the manner previously fully explained. Al the end of the stroppingoperation the holder is withdrawn from the keepeand the blade removedfrom the holder.

The stropper as a whole and in its parts may be modified more or lesswithout departing from the spirit of my invention.

In order to understand clearly the manner in which the spring 255supported. and caused to operate, it should be observed that the base ofthe rocker 252 is bent at 17 toward the end piece 5, and that saidspring, after being looped around the pin 34 on the righbhand side ofsaid rocker, extends downwardly in contact with both edges of said base.Consequently, when the rocker 32 .is oscillated, the spring 35 is causedto oscilable member being spring pressed, toward the fixed member, tocause said device to reciprocate on said shift.

2. The combinatiofi, in a stropper, with a suitably supported shaft, andmeans to revo lve said shaft, of a fixed sleeve outside of said shaft, asecond sleeve mounted on said shaft and arranged to revolve therewithand to reciprocate thereon, the ends of said sleeves being abutted andformed to produce a longitudinal movement on the part of said secondsleeve as it revolves with said shaft, a stropping member, supportingmeans for said stropping member, such supporting means being rigidlyattached at one end to said second sleeve and being loosely mounted atthe other end on said first-mentioned sleeve, and a spring arranged tomaintain the adjacent ends of the two sleeves in engagement.

3. The combination, in a stropper, with a pair of suitably journalednon-reciprocating shafts, a train of gears arranged to drive said shaftsin opposite directions, and revoluble and reciprocating stroppingdevices mounted on said shafts, of cams secured to said shafts, asuitably mounted rocker in the paths of said earns, a resilient membercar ried by such rocker and having parts which extend beyond or belowthe rocker, a suit-' ably mounted oscillatory keeper, said keeper beingengaged by said extending parts of said resilient member and operatedthereby, and a blade holder adapted to be connected with said keeper.

4. The combination, in a stropper, of a pair of approximatelysemi-cylindrical stropping members, means to revolve such Copies of thispatentmay' be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Thecombination, in a stropper, with a pair of approximatelysemi-cylindrical stropping members, means to revolve such members inopposite directions and to cause the stropping surface of one member toleave the stropping field at about the time the stropping surface of theother member enters such field, and reciprocating means for suchstropping devices, such reciprocating means being arranged to actuatesaid devices in opposite directions at the same time, of means tosupport a razor blade in the stropping field and to actuazl said bladefrom one stropping device to' the other as their stropping surfacesleave and enter' Such field.

6. The combination, in a stropper, with a pair of suitably mountedstropping devices, and means to simultaneously revolve such devices inopposite directions and reciprocate them in opposite directions,-of'oscillatory supporting means for ablade, whereby such blade has itscutting ed the stropping field brought alternately into contact withsaid stropping devices.

CLARENCE M. MOORE.

\Vitnesses:

G. A.. ANGIER, F. A. CUTTER.

Commissioner of Iatcnts,

Washington, -D. C.

ge'which is in-

